Washington D.C. – Special counsel Jack Smith’s suspicions of former President Donald Trump’s additional efforts to obstruct the government’s investigation into his handling of classified documents were revealed in a newly unsealed court filing on Tuesday.
The court filing, released as an exhibit in response to Trump’s attempts to dismiss the case, comes ahead of two hearings related to Trump aide Walt Nauta’s motion to dismiss related charges.
Last June, Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 criminal counts related to his mishandling of classified materials after leaving the White House. Prosecutors alleged that he refused to return hundreds of documents containing sensitive information, including U.S. nuclear secrets. Nauta also pleaded not guilty to related charges.
According to the unsealed opinion, D.C. District Judge Beryl Howell suggested that Trump and his associates took steps to obstruct the investigation after being informed of a government subpoena for video footage. This led to a rush by Nauta to change travel plans and fly to Palm Beach, Florida.
The government argued that the rush to Mar-a-Lago following the phone call on June 24, 2022, indicated that Trump realized the removal of boxes containing classified materials needed to be done off camera. This theory was supported by a lack of video footage showing the return of the boxes before a search warrant was executed in August 2022.
The new filings also included photos of Nauta allegedly moving boxes that the government claims contained the classified materials Trump was attempting to retain despite an FBI subpoena.
District Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to unseal multiple exhibits in Trump’s case has drawn criticism, especially for delays that benefit Trump’s strategy to postpone the trial until after the 2024 election. This included an order placing an indefinite hold on setting a trial date.